Tag Archives: nut allergy

It’s a sad thing to have a nut allergy and be attracted to the idea of peanut butter. It’s sad until you realize, oh… there are so so many ways to get a nutty taste, and fat, and cream and, yeah all the “bad” stuff peanut butter devourers crave. But, what’s splendid is that when you take out the fact that it’s a peanut you’re going to roast and turn into cream, and replace it with pumpkin seeds and grapeseed oil, you’re getting plenty of omega-3’s and good fats, a roasted nutty flavor, and something without any additives.
So, thank you nut allergy? Either way. Love it, so we’ve got the next episode of the Bubble Child cooking show. :)

Rika and Doni are living the vegan dream. Their blog Vegan Miam — “miam” deriving from the French word for “yum” — catapults them around the world, where they explore major and minor cities alike, tasting their way through the animal-free side of the local cuisine. This week, I am absolutely honored to have guest posted a complete vegan version of my homemade spring roll with thai “peanut” sauce.

Nut and gluten-free, of course. (and complete herbavore as the name would have it!)

I recommend checking out the site. For meat avoiders and embracers, the photography is so tantalizing you won’t care if the dishes were made from cardboard. (Which would be rather impressive and disappointing all at once.)

Like something bitter with something sweet, something crunchy with something soft, something healthy with something full of flavor.

In summer, all I want is things that are hydrating and things that give me energy. Since compromising taste is simply something that cannot be had, that’s just a given. This salad was a pleasant surprise of things in my fridge and a tender summer moment in the kitchen. Endives are rather bitter and I find them difficult to eat at times, but combined with the sweetness of the berries and the musk of either the cheese and/or the pumpkin seeds, you’re lookin’ scrumptious.

Method: If using goat cheese, put it on the edge of a mixing bowl. Add endive and (optional) seeds, olive oil and vinegar. Mix with a knife, scraping up the edges of the cheese, so that all is coated. Slowly mix in blackberries. Salt and paprika to taste. Serve alongside your favorite tartine in a little mound topped with a few leaves of baby basil for something charming.

Happy things filled my brain this morning. Firstly, the discovery that was made this weekend is worth mentioning: Haribo has Spirulina in it. Yes, Haribo — those delightful gummies that are neither too sweet nor too tacky. Since they are flavored with natural flavors and colors (another woo!), they contain Spirulina, which is a cyanobacterium that contains calcium, protein, antioxidants, vitamins… lots of good stuff. While eating green gummies will probably not save my life, this was certainly a petite pleasure to discover.

My head was further massaged when I blended things in my pantry. Not machine blending, but more holding hands, I guess. Being a “Bubble Child” with a strong nut allergy, gluten intolerance, and corn sensitivity makes finding cereal in France rather challenging. If it’s not filled with wheat its gluten-free alternative is a flake of corn. If I can find a healthy looking muesli, it will have hazelnuts. What’s a girl to do? Ahhh, DIY.

All I seem to find are buckwheat flakes and puffs of various sorts (rice, buckwheat, etc.) How about…. I want raisin bran so I combine those two with raisins? Magique!

Here’s your morning inspiration: to save your stomach, histamines, and wallet some work, try combining different cereal flakes you can eat with different dried fruits and dark chocolate chips (!!) to have some custom lovin’ every morning in a bowl. Top with either lactose-free milk or dairy-free milk of choice, and you’re smooth sailing for the day. <3

It’s like a dream, an inverted, chocolate-laced, cheesecake flavored twisted reverie of a treat loved past.

If I were a professional nature show host, I might say that what we’ve got here, mate, is a very rare breed. “It seems to resemble oreo, yes, that’s sure. Only that it’s a little more like a brownie, and makes me feel good when I eat it. It seems to be a little short on the gluten, and, oddly, instead of having an overly sweet filling, it tastes like cheesecake. I reckon we better let this lil bugga into the wild for all to enjoy.”

This is why I don’t host a nature show? –amongst many reasons… um yeah.

I’ll stick to the kitchen: It’s also nut, corn, and egg-free, and can be vegan if you want it to be. Lactose is either minimal or very optional. ahhh, makes more sense. ;)

This recipe came about when I was playing with ways to combine blended flax seeds and cocoa powder. I really wanted something sweet, and did not want to intake a ton of sugar. Egg whites don’t sit well with me, so the flax seeds and I have been spending lots of time together in pastry land. The result was unexpected and beautiful inside and out. (Inside and out of me and the cake itself.)

frosting:1/2 cup mascarpone or vegan cream cheese2 tsp. rice milk1 tsp. vanillapinch salt4 tsp. powdered sugar (this is not too sweet, but just right for me. if you’d like it more sweet add another ~2 tbs. powdered sugar to taste.)

1. Prepare cake: soak flax seeds in water in a covered container for 6 hours room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Blend both water and flax seeds with vanilla, agave nectar, and sea salt until white and few traces of seed shells remain.
3. In separate large bowl combine dry ingredients. Add flax seed mixture and oil. Combine until homogenous.

4. Prepare one large brownie pan or two small cake pans with a thin layer of oil/cooking spray and a dusting of rice flour. (You want the batter to spread out to be about an inch thick, no more.)
5. Spoon batter into prepared cake molds and bake for about 30 minutes, until center is solid and top is crusted. Remove from heat, let cool entirely before frosting.

6. Prepare frosting: mix all ingredients until homogenous. Transfer entirety of frosting into a piping bag with a large circular tip.
7. Finish cake: pipe parallel and equal rows of oreo-filling size circles onto the top of your cake as shown in the photos. Cut into a square or rectangle for something classy, and serve, ideally, in a square or rectangle shape with a few strawberries and perhaps a glass of bubbly?